Manslaughter for free

The last few weeks have been absolutely hectic. The kids’ visit came and went in the blink of an eye and my mother was taken sick and is now in the capable hands of doctors. A mighty big thank you to everyone who sent her their best wishes through my last post. She’s reading all your comments and also reading them to visitors, patients and doctors!

I was so sad to see my children go, one by one a tearful goodbye at the airport. My daughter was the last to leave and as I was getting ready to take her to the airport I banged my chin on the top of the car door and bit my tongue. Giving myself this uppercut was the last straw and I cried all the way to the airport. Once I sort out all the pictures of our time together I’ll post them here (none of my bitten tongue – I promise).

Because my mother is my biggest fan, I’ve decided to put my book of short stories on Kindle for free for the next week. It’s a thank you to all of you for your thoughts and best wishes for her.

Some of the stories in this book have won national writing awards so it’s also a good opportunity to snatch them up without paying top dollar through traditional publishers who have included them in anthologies. Because my mother always asks where I get my story ideas from I’ve also included the reasons why I wrote each story at the back of the book.

HI Dianne, I am sorry to hear about your mom. I do hope she’s on the mend now! Of course she’s your greatest fan, moms are the awesome-est ever! Will download the book, I need to read some more of your books, anyway! I enjoyed the last one I read very much. Sorry about the biting your tongue. Does give a good excuse for the tears though! But Iim betting there were tears all the way around during the leaving. Take care of you and mom and your wonderful family, Penny xo

What a beautiful and thoughtful comment, Penny. There were tears all round when I had to say goodbye to the kids, but they had a fabulous time and are already talking about and planning the next holiday here 😀

I really hope you enjoy the stories in the book – you know me, all my stories are different so there’s something in there for everybody 😉

Diane, first, I’m so sorry, I must of missed your post about your mom, I hope she is doing well. I need to try to find the post you did about her. I’ve been kind of swamped and under the weather, so I missed a bunch of posts. When I came back to my email; I was a bit overwhelmed and didn’t get to all of them.
Second, thank you for the free read. I look forward to it!
Third, I’m sorry your time with your kids went too quickly and equally sorry that you bit your tongue. That is not fun at all, especially when you were already in a fragile state! I hope you are better now (in all ways). Have a great week and thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much, Darla 😀 My mum has been diagnosed with advanced myeloma and is now receiving treatment (which is a big relief).
I know what it’s like to get overwhelmed by the emails and by life, so just relax and have a nice read of my stories when you get the chance – and have a lovely weekend! 😀

Yours seems to be a wonderful family. it’s so great that your mum has this communication line to you now and insight into your thoughts and daily life. The little accidents, like biting your tongue, are what tap into all the other deeply felt stresses to set us off, aren’t they? We think – oh, how stupid! And that little moment lets the vulnerability that we’ve been keeping out in.
Thanks so much for the book! I got back to reading ‘Let Sleeping Gods Lie’ last night now that the uni term is over and I really enjoy your style and fluidity of writing. It will be wonderful to get the background on your stories.

You’re so right about the little accidents setting off other feelings. I could have done that any other time and just thought, ‘what a twit!’, but not this time 😦

I’m so glad you’re enjoying Sleeping Gods – and I really hope you like some of the short stories in the book. I’m a big fan of short stories because I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and read long novels. Enjoy your uni break 😀

Greetings Dianne from deep in the heart of Texas!! I definitely want to read your short stories – I’m looking forward to it and thanks so very much!! I also send my warmest wishes to you and your mother during this time. Please let her know we are sending our best to her from a world away!!

My mother is doing a little better now and I’m sure it has a lot to do with all the well-wishes she’s getting from all over the world. Give my love to all in Texas, thank you for your thoughts and best wishes, and have a great weekend 😀

Glad to hear your mother’s doctors are caring for her. Where would we be without them? And thanks for the short stories, how generous of you. You taking on the car door with your chin reminds me of all the injuries I sustain in my house and car. I’ll often be saying ‘who put that there’ when I bang into a wall, door, sun visor or get yanked back by the seat belt when I forget to extricate myself fully from it. It’s almost like someone sneaked in during the night moved things. 😉

I’ve got ’empty nest’ big time, Bulldog. Luckily I’ve just been given 21 windows to sand and paint to put in the bedrooms! LOL – that’ll keep my busy until they come back 😉 Thank you so much for the download – enjoy! 😀

Read one of the shorts already, straight after downloading… I can see why your an author… beautifully written and your method of describing the story makes it come alive on the page… you’re damn good….

Awww – Maggie, it’s so very sad when they go 😦 But the good thing is that they’re SO keen to come back because they had such a wonderful time. It’s been a while since they’ve lived here and they just love the RUC (and that makes me feel very happy indeed!)

I really hope you enjoy reading the stories and thank you so much for downloading 😀

Thank you so much, Kate. My mum is now taking some medication that will (hopefully) give her some relief from the effects of this awful thing. I keep in regular touch with my sisters and am planing to jump on a plane soon and go visit her 😉

I don’t have a kindle either, Jen 😦 I usually download any stories I get on Kindle for PC (but it’s not easy reading on a computer screen). Thanks so much for coming by to say Hi and to wish my mum the best 😉

Thanks Dianne. I have been meaning to download The Eleventh Question so I will do both while I’m on Amazon. It’s good to hear that your Mum is doing well and also that you had a lovely visit with all your offspring. Take care.

That’s really super, Dianne. I’ve just downloaded your book. I do love short stories. Thanks you much. I hope your mom is doing well under the doctor’s expert care. Hugs to her. Sorry about your tongue biting episode. That really sucks…..well you know what I mean. 🙂 I’m sure you had a wonderful time with your kids, and made memories that will stay with you all for ever. Happy weekend to you, Dianne. xx

Thank you so much, Sylvia. The visit with the kids was amazing and I want to post a video but it’s far too big (my daughter’s boyfriend coming face to face with a big crocodile!) I see if I can find a way to get it up here 😀

I’m so glad my mum is now taking some medication for her condition. I’m sure it will make her a lot more comfortable. As for the tongue – I have to learn to keep my mouth shut when I’m getting in the car! 😉

Dianne,
For you it’s the bottom of you head, for me it’s the top! Some years ago I decided I’d see if I could pull of the new-ever-so-popular shaven head look. I cut it all off and looked at the results: there were so many dings and dents from times I stood up under something too low, forgot to close the kitchen cabinets, or whacked myself in the head with a car door that I grew my hair back as fast as I could!

If there’s one thing I hate it’s hitting the top of my head (there must an ‘Incredible Hulk’ trigger in me when I hit the top of my head because it’s one of the only things in life that really makes me angry). My father was the same and would use every word under the sun if he hit the top of his head 😉 LOL

I missed your last post, but have just gone back and read it. I hope your mum is doing better and think it’s wonderful that she’s now the biggest fan of your blog! It’s very generous of you to put your work out for readers to get hold of free. I hope it brings you some new and faithful readers.

Incidentally, not that the seas will part with this news, but Julie and I are moving to Tennessee (the state of my birth and childhood) — perhaps the finish in Appalachia will be better than the beginning!

Oh man, I hate it when I am sad already then hurt myself…the tears are impossible to stop! Sorry to hear about the car’s uppercut, those things don’t pull their punches at all!
Thanks for the book too! I am so excited, it is downloaded and ready to go 🙂
All the best to mom! I hope the treatment and meds do what they are supposed to and things straighten out quickly.

That is so generous of you, Dianne! I just downloaded my copy. 🙂 I’m glad you had a wonderful visit with your children, but please be careful and take care of yourself! Best wishes to your mom for her recovery!

Reblogged this on Spirit Lights The Way and commented:
The first story I read, Hotdog Cart, is the funniest tragedy I’ve ever had the pleasure to inhale in a single gulp. Dianne has a way of twisting tearful situations into humorous anecdotes that are full of joy to counterbalance the pathos.

You’ll want to read more.

And now you can . . . for FREE. Dianne has put her book of short stories on Kindle for FREE this week. Snag your copy today.

So generous of you, Dianne. I downloaded it and am looking forward to reading. I have to say though that it was a VERY frustrating about 2 hours trying to figure out how to do this on my new tablet – I so hate new technology – it always provides hours of frustration when it comes into my house. New (1st) tablet and never downloaded a e-book before … But I persevered and now I have your book. Yay

I saw this blog post title (Manslaughter for free) in my email and I thought, “What?? Is this a new side business you’re doing?” How relieved I am to realize it’s a book of short stories…fiction, I hope 🙂 If I don’t get sidetracked, I plan to fire up the Kindle and download it. After reading some of the above comments, I’m really curious about it!

I’m glad your mom is in capable hands and I hope she has a speedy recovery. She must enjoy the opportunity to brag about you, though! (Moms do like that, don’t they? I know I do!)

I’ve downloaded Manslaughter and Other Tears onto the Kindle Reader on my phone… so good to have short stories on hand – thank you so much. I’m please your mum is getting treatment and enjoys the posts and comments.
I hate biting my tongue or the inside of my cheek, and yes, I always seem to do it at least twice. Hopefully it will heal quickly for you, also the sadness at your kids’ holiday coming to an end. I’m sure you all had a fantastic time, and it went too fast. Good times always do. Maybe start planning for the next get together 😉

Oy, Dianne, i am so sorry to read that you hurt yourself :(((( I don’t know if i can post links here – but if you google ‘kabbalah 3 negative weeks’ – you’ll get to scribd handout, it takes 2 min to read it, but it can really help to understand why such hard stuff is happening in this period :(((( Much love and Light sent your moms way! (Oh, and how cool of you to share the stories, will repost for my friend on fb!) xxxx

I have to say, even though I paid for this a while ago, I enjoyed the writing so much that it doesn’t hurt a bit that you are now offering it for free!! I hope you’ve had lots of interest. A crime if not xx

What a fabulous offer! I don’t have kindle though… Hope all is well with you and your mum…glad you were able to enjoy time with all your kids…(: hope your tongue heals quickly…ouch !): Things often happen all at once, don’t they?…

Missed this post somehow so I went to Amazon for a download. Can not wait to start reading your stories. Short stories fascinate me because they are so condensed–like a mini-novel. Must do more writing!! If I say that enough will it happen??